Nevada City Municipal Code Ch. 12.08 Advertising Along Freeways

This chapter is adopted in order to:

A. Facilitate the free and rapid flow of vehicular travel on freeways;

B. Prevent and eliminate hazards to the safety of traffic on freeways;

C. Preserve the benefits of plantings and landscaping on freeways; and

D. Promote the public health, safety and welfare.

(Ord. 315 § 1, 1964)

A. As used in this chapter, certain terms are defined as follows:

"Advertising display" refers to advertising structures and to signs.

"Advertising structure" refers to a structure of any kind or character erected or maintained for outdoor advertising purposes upon which any poster, bill, printing, painting or other advertisement of any kind whatsoever may be placed, including statuary, for advertising purposes.

"Freeway" is deemed to mean a highway in respect to which the owners of abutting lands have no right or easement of access to or from their abutting lands or in respect to which such owners have only limited or restricted right or easement of access, and which is declared to be such in compliance with the Streets and Highways Code of the state.

"Sign" refers to any card, cloth, paper, metal, painted or wooden sign of any character placed for outdoor advertising purposes on or to the ground or any tree, wall, bush, rock, fence, building, structure or thing, either privately or publicly owned, other than an advertising structure.

"To place," and any variants of such term, as applied to advertising displays, includes the maintaining and the erecting, constructing, posting, painting, printing, tacking, nailing, glueing, stitching, carving or otherwise fastening, affixing or making visible any advertising display on or to the ground or any tree, bush, rock, fence, post, wall, building, structure or thing.

B. Neither "advertising structure" nor "sign," as used in this chapter, includes:

1. Official notices issued by any court or public body or officer;

2. Notices posted by any public officer in performance of a public duty, or by any person in giving legal notice;

3. Directional, warning or information signs or structures required or authorized by law or by federal, state or municipal authority.

(Ord. 315 § 2, 1964)

Except as provided in Section 12.08.040 of this chapter, no advertising structure or sign shall be placed at any location within the city if such advertising display is designed to be viewed primarily by persons traveling on a freeway.

(Ord. 340 § 1, 1968: Ord. 315 § 3, 1964)

A. The provisions of Section 12.08.030 of this chapter shall not apply to advertising structures or signs which comply with all of the requirements set forth in subsection B of this section and which are used exclusively to:

1. Advertise the sale or lease of the property on which the advertising display is placed;

2. Designate the name of the owner or occupant of the premises upon which the advertising display is placed or to identify such premises;

3. Advertise the business conducted or goods manufactured or produced, or services rendered upon the property upon which the advertising display is placed.

B. All advertising displays referred to in subsection A of this section shall comply with the following requirements:

1. No single sign shall exceed twenty-four square feet, and the aggregate area of all signs for any one business entity at any one location shall not exceed twenty-four square feet.

2. The area of an irregular sign shall be the area of the smallest rectangle which can wholly contain the sign.

3. Each face of a multifaced sign shall be considered a separate sign, except that a sign having two parallel faces, back to back, shall be considered a single sign.

4. Each sign shall be affixed to a building, except that a sign advertising the sale or lease of unimproved property upon which such sign is located need not be so affixed.

5. No sign shall project more than six feet from the face or vertical surface of the building.

6. No sign shall project above the eave or parapet line of the building; except that a sign affixed to a pylon on the roof of a gasoline service station may project nine feet above the ridge or peak of such roof.

7. No sign shall contain any flashing, blinking or moving letters, characters or other elements, and the sign itself shall not move.

8. No sign shall contain any outline tubing.

C. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection B of this section, and in addition to the sign or signs allowed therein, each gasoline service station or motel, shall be entitled to place a single pole sign, providing that such sign shall not extend more than thirty feet above the ground floor level of such station or motel; shall not exceed forty square feet in area, and shall comply with the requirements of subdivisions 2, 3, 7 and 8 of subsection B of this section.

D. In the event of any conflict between this chapter and Article II of Chapter 17.68 of this code, the provisions of Article II of Chapter 17.68 of this code shall be controlling.

E. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection B of this section, and in addition to the sign or signs allowed therein, each person, firm or corporation holding a franchise for the sale of new automobiles shall, for each such franchise, be entitled to place on the business premises a sign not to exceed forty square feet; provided, however, that the right to deal in two or more makes or kinds of automobiles produced or marketed by the same manufacturer shall be deemed to be a single franchise, and in addition to persons, firms or corporations holding such a franchise or franchises, those persons holding a franchise or engaged primarily in the distribution of automobile parts including related labor, shop services and including automobile dealers' parts departments and business premises engaged as automotive parts houses shall be permitted to have signs for which the aggregate area of all signs, including any sign or signs displayed pursuant to subsection B, shall not exceed one hundred fifty square feet. Each sign allowed by this subsection shall be subject to subdivisions 2 through 8 of subsection B of this section; provided, however, that if the size or physical characteristics of the building on such business premises are such that it is impossible or impracticable to comply with subdivisions 4, 5 and 6 of subsection B. The city council may grant a variance from one or more of such requirements. Any request for a variance shall be included in the permit application filed pursuant to this section, and shall be accompanied by a statement of the reasons for such request.

(Ord. 81-9 § 1, 1981; Ord. 375 § 1, 1976; Ord. 353 § 1, 1971; Ord. 346 § 1, 1969; Ord 315 § 4, 1964)

A. It is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to place, alter or relocate within the territorial limits of the city any advertising structure or sign which is visible from a freeway, without first obtaining a permit to do so from the city council, and no such permit shall be issued except in compliance with the provisions of this chapter; provided, however, that no such permit shall be required for any advertising display located within the historical district for which a permit is required under Article II of Chapter 17.68 of this code.

B. Applications for permits shall be in writing and shall contain the following information and material:

1. Name and address of the applicant;

2. Name and address of the owner of the real property upon which the advertising display is to be placed;

3. Location of such property by its legal description or by reference to a recorded deed;

4. Drawing or sketch showing the design, size and structural details of the advertising display, including materials and colors, and showing, also, the location of the advertising display with reference to the boundary lines of the property and the buildings or structures thereon; and

5. All other information and materials which the city council may require.

C. Applications filed hereunder shall be considered by the city council at a regular or special meeting, and the council shall promptly make a determination thereon.

(Ord. 340 § 3, 1968)

The city council, as a part of their review and determination for sign permits under this chapter, shall have design review authority and may require that any proposed sign be modified prior to construction. Design review shall obtain a reasonable balance between the advertising needs of the applicant, the aesthetic scenic corridor goals of the city's general plan and the architecture of the neighborhood such that the sign will not be detrimental to the public welfare, and will enhance the architecture of the neighborhood and protect the scenic corridor in Nevada City. The design review shall be completed on a case-by-case basis in the context of the neighborhood and setting of the proposed sign. The council may consider the location, the nature and visibility of the business, the types of existing signs in the area, the level of development in the sign location, the likelihood of light spill from the sign, and other site-specific facts. The council may require modification of the sign's size, materials, colors, illumination, mounting, pole height, and other design elements as a condition of approval.

(Ord. 94-01 Exh. C, 1994)

Any advertising structure or sign which is lawfully in place or which is substantially under construction at the time the ordinance codified in this chapter or any amendment thereto becomes effective, but which does not conform with the provisions of this chapter, may be continued in place for the limited time and subject to the provisions as hereinafter prescribed:

A. No such advertising structure or sign shall be altered, unless the same, when so altered, reconstructed or relocated, shall conform with the provisions of this chapter. For the purpose of this subsection, the terms "altered" and "reconstructed" shall not include normal maintenance or a change in the surface sign or advertising matter.

B. Such advertising structure or sign shall be removed, or shall be altered or relocated so as to conform with the provisions of this chapter, within three years from the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter or within three years from the date when the affected freeway, or portion thereof, is opened to public travel, whichever is later.

C. The phrase "substantially under construction," as used in this chapter, means the actual placement of a substantial portion of construction materials in their permanent position fixed in a permanent manner.

(Ord. 340 § 5, 1968)

Every advertising structure or sign which is placed in violation of the provisions of this chapter is declared to be a public nuisance, and, upon order of the city council, shall be abated in accordance with law.

(Ord. 315 § 6, 1964)

Every person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of an infraction. Every person convicted of a violation of this chapter shall be punished by a mandatory fine of not less than twenty-five dollars or more than two hundred fifty dollars upon a first conviction, by a mandatory fine of not less than fifty dollars or more than two hundred fifty dollars upon a second or subsequent conviction within twenty-four months, and each such person shall be deemed guilty of a separate offense for each day, or portion thereof, during which any violation of this chapter is committed or continued.

(Ord. 84-2 § 1, 1984: Ord. 315 § 7, 1964)